It's All Right With Me
by INeverExplainAnything
Summary: "It's the wrong time and the wrong place. Though your face is charming, it's the wrong face. It's not her face, but such a charming face that it's all right with me." Maria and the Captain spend some time getting to know each other. Set about a week after the rowboat incident.


A/N In case you haven't noticed, I really like Cole Porter. Particularly love Ella Fitzgerald's covers of his songs. I've been listening to her for the past three weeks on repeat - much to my housemates utter annoyance, but he's happy I am not blasting the TSOM soundtrack and singing "Do Re Me" at the top of my lungs all the time. But this song is one of my favourites and I can't help but think how fitting it is. I've used the original lyrics, not the EF one since she sings it from a woman's perspective. It's a great song, I love blasting it in the car haha

Anyway, that got off topic. So, here is another little one shot that fits into my "Here Comes the Sun" universe. It's a small missing scene that occurs after _Chapter Six: Little Talks_ \- about a week after the rowboat incident. If you haven't read it, it doesn't matter, as it can be a standalone story too.

* * *

It's All Right With Me

 _"It's the wrong time and the wrong place,  
_ _Though your face is charming, it's the wrong face.  
_ _It's not her face, but such a charming face,  
_ _That it's all right with me._

 _It's the wrong song in the wrong style,  
_ _Though your smile is lovely, it's the wrong smile.  
_ _It's not her smile, but such a lovely smile,  
_ _So it's all right with me._

 _You can't know how happy I am that we've met,  
_ _I'm strangely attracted to you.  
_ _There's someone I'm trying so hard to forget,  
_ _Don't you want to forget someone, too?_

 _It's the wrong game with the wrong chips,  
_ _Though your lips are tempting, they're the wrong lips.  
_ _They're not her lips, but they're such tempting lips,  
_ _That if some night you're free,  
_ _Dear, it's all right,  
_ _Yes, it's all right with me."_

\- Cole Porter, _It's All Right With Me_

* * *

"That doesn't make any sense, Captain."

Georg smirked over the top of the large tome he was reading from and raised an eyebrow at Fraulein Maria.

"It's mythology, it doesn't need to make sense. What fun would it be if it made sense?"

He watched as she wrinkled her nose at him, as if still doubting he had read the text properly, and gave a small shrug. They were in the library and he had been reading an excerpt from an old text about the Twelve Olympians of the Greek pantheon. Sometimes Georg found himself wondering how he had gone from wanting to ring her neck to voluntarily spending time with her. She was sitting on the floor surrounded by books, her legs outstretched and the skirts of her dress were spread around her as she read. She looked like a strange life sized version of one of Gretl's dolls. He had offered for her to sit in one of the large plush armchairs but she had chosen to sit on the soft carpet instead. She had kicked her shoes off and he found himself staring at her stocking clad feet and ankles before he dragged his eyes back to the book he was holding.

"As I was saying, Athena was born from the forehead of Zeus fully grown and wearing armour," he said.

"Is that what you did? Born wearing a suit and tie, and brandishing a whistle?" Maria said and then she laughed at her own joke.

But then she stopped to look up at him, to gauge his reaction, but the Captain didn't seem to mind.

It had all started a few nights ago – after she had accidentally stolen his pen. He would tease her and bark at her, but she realised there was no real bite to it. And she found herself poking him back. It was always fun, she had to admit. Maria guessed when you've screamed and yelled at someone, and managed to survive, you can't help but be friends – in a strange sort of way. Besides, it was nice to talk to another adult after spending her whole day with seven children.

"No, I hate to disappoint you, Fraulein, but I was once a small child," the Captain said.

"I'm sure you were a very disciplined young man," Maria said in a mock serious tone of voice as she tried to suppress a smile. "Always breathing deeply."

Georg smiled at that, unable to help himself. And then she laughed again; it was a light joyous sound that floated through the room and then he mentally kicked himself as he realised he had been openly staring at her. Thankfully, she had her nose still stuck in the book and hadn't noticed.

"Ha, not at all," Georg said and he watched her eyebrows lift in question as she looked up at him. "I used to terrorise my sister. I was an unholy child; my parents were ecstatic when I joined the Naval Academy. My father hoped it would sort me out."

"Seems to have worked," Fraulein Maria said. "Also, I didn't know you had a sister."

"Her name is Hede," Georg said, "She lives in Korneuburg, though she's always travelling around – she's an artist. She did live in Vienna for a while - she used to have a few art exhibitions there."

"Oh, how exciting!" Fraulein Maria said. "That sounds wonderful. Has she always been an artist?"

The Captain gave a rueful smile. "Hmm, yes she has. I used to steal all her paints when we were younger and paint on the wall - then blame it all on her." He gave a short bark of laughter. "My mother was appalled."

Maria wrinkled her nose again as she tried to link the image he had just described with the one sitting in front of her, with his neatly pressed suit and perfectly combed hair. It was hard to picture the Captain ever being young, even picturing him having a mother and father was strange. The fact that he had a sister, who he used to terrorise, was also slightly bewildering. While she had gotten to know him a little better, she still found it hard to forget the strict and unyielding man she had met on her first day. And that man didn't fit the picture he was describing to her. But, the last week she had seen such a different side to him. A side that she found she quite liked and was curious about knowing better.

She had heard a lot of stories from the children about what the Captain had been like when his wife had still been alive. It was possible that recently she had caught of few shadowy glimpses of that man over the past few days but it didn't stop it from being so surreal.

Maria was startled out of her musings when she heard him speak to her again.

"What about you, Fraulein, terrorise any siblings or other relatives in your youth?" he asked, with a quirk of his lips.

Georg saw her face, which had had a wistful smile on it, fall and she looked down at her hands.

"No," she replied, and her voice had lost it teasing tone completely. "I only ever had my parents. They both died due to illness when I was seven."

Maria drew in a deep breath. She hated talking about her past. While it hadn't been terrible, it certainly hadn't been wonderful. It had been mediocre, nothing more and nothing less.

"Ah," she heard the Captain say awkwardly, "I apologise. It must have been awful to be so young and be left all alone."

Maria stared at her hands, her brow furrowed slightly. It hadn't occurred to her he would ask about her own family. Nobody really ever had before.

"I had nobody when my parents left me, not any brother or sisters," she said quietly, still not looking at him, and then she added, "But I don't think I ever felt as alone as your children."

Maria stopped, immediately realising what she had said and she looked up at him beseechingly. They had been getting along so well and she had to go and open her stupid mouth. She never thought _anything_ through.

"I'm sorry," Maria said quickly, and she saw his face had hardened, "Captain, forgive me – I didn't mean to-"

The immediate anger rose in Georg's stomach but more overpowering was the surge of guilt at her words. It was true and he wasn't that foolish to deny it.

"No, Fraulein, you are right," he sighed. "How can my children forgive me?"

He heard her stand up and walk over to him and he saw her place her small hand on his arm. Georg had to immediately try to squash the burn that it stirred despite the layers of his shirt and jacket. She didn't seem to notice his immediate reaction as he looked at her face, her ocean blue eyes peering earnestly at him.

"They love you so much," she said softly, "And they know you are trying. You have been spending so much time with them over the last week and I know they forgive you. I think you need to forgive yourself."

She drew her hand away and gave him a smile, that delightfully wholesome smile he craved to see light up her face. He forced himself to give her a smile back and tried to squash the feelings that had risen to the surface. She was so close to him and he could smell her; the fresh and inviting scent made him want to just grab her and bury his face in her neck.

Hastily he broke eye contact and snapped the book shut as she took a small step back from him.

"I think that perhaps you are too forgiving, Fraulein," he said, as he returned his gaze to her.

She was still peering at him with such honest concern in her blue eyes that he had the strongest impulse to just close the small gap between them and kiss her. His deluded mind immediately conjured up what she would feel like, how her lips would taste and he hastily tried to push the thought aside. But it was hard to let go of the image; especially after all the dreams he had been having lately.

They had steadily been getting more erotic in nature. Sometimes he awoke and entirely expected to see her lying next to him. But the space was always empty, like it had been the past few years. She was his children's governess, he told himself, not Agathe. And that's what he told himself his mind was doing, projecting a role onto her. A role, that if anything, he should be picturing Elsa as, but it was so easy to forget about Elsa when he was with Fraulein Maria. After all, Elsa did not seem to have a motherly bone in her body, whereas Fraulein Maria seemed to embody everything his children needed.

This girl had waltzed, quite literally, into his life and then proceeded to completely bewitch his children with her honest charm. And he was finding it hard not to fall under the spell himself. The children adored her and did practically everything she asked of them. He'd been alone for so long that he'd forgotten what it had been like to work as a team with someone to raise children. Not that he'd really been raising his children, his guilty mind reminded him.

Fraulein Maria was an attractive, compassionate, positive and engaging young lady. And she obviously cared for his children a great deal. So it was possible the traitorous thoughts were all due to these simple things confusing him. Yes, that is what it was.

Clearing his throat he said, "Anyway, I'm sorry to hear about your family, Fraulein."

Fraulein Maria gave him a small smile and said, "Thank you, Captain. I wasn't very old so I don't remember them well. Just a few things here and there."

No wonder she acts the way she does, he thought to himself. He felt another surge of guilt at that. But he was determined to right his wrongs. And he'd at least made a small effort towards fixing things by gifting Liesl with a few of Agathe's possessions. He knew he probably should go to the attic soon and deal with those memories but he wasn't sure if he was truly ready for that just yet.

"Um," he heard her say, "So, you were saying about Athena?"

Maria watched the Captain; he looked like he had taken a trip down memory lane but the lane was in desperate need of some new cobbles and possibly a watchman on duty. His eyes fixed back onto her and she offered him an encouraging smile.

"Ah yes," the Captain said, and sat up straighter in his chair, "She's the goddess of wisdom, intellect, knowledge, reason, democracy, literature, warfare – the list goes on."

"I can see why you like her so much," Maria said as he passed the book to her.

Turning the book, she looked at the regal statue depicted in the pages as the Captain continued to talk.

"There is a statue of her in Vienna – the Pallas Athena, outside the Parliament building," he said, "It's a water fountain that has four women each representing the four most important rivers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Athena is in the centre atop a large pillar and she's dressed in her armour with a spear in one hand. The other hand she holds Nike – who is another goddess, she represents victory."

"It sounds wonderful," Maria said, still standing next to him as she looked at the different depictions of the goddess.

He looked up at her from his seat and said, "It is. If you ever get the chance to go back to Vienna, Fraulein, I would highly recommend seeing it."

Maria handed the book back to the Captain and walked back over to sit on the plush carpet again. Picking up another book, she sifted through a few pages until she came across a chapter titled "Persephone". There was a painting of a beautiful girl picking flowers in a large field and Maria was immediately drawn to the picture.

"Captain?"

"Yes, Fraulein?"

"Who is 'Persephone?'" Maria asked curiously.

Looking down at her, the Captain gave her a strange look and said, "She's the Queen of the Underworld."

Maria's face turned into a frown, "That sounds awful."

"I guess," he said, with a small chuckle. "She only rules there for a third of the year though."

"Why?"

The Captain shifted in his chair and said, "Well, Hades – who is ruler of the Underworld, kidnapped her and brought her down to the underworld to be his wife. There are all different versions of the story."

"Why did he kidnap her?" Maria asked, utterly intrigued.

"He was in love with her," said the Captain, "And she was beautiful. She was one of the daughters of Demeter – goddess of harvest and agriculture. And Demeter had tried to hide her daughter from other gods who wished to woo her daughter. One day, Persephone was in a field planting seeds and Hades came through the earth and stole her away."

"It still all sounds awful," Maria said.

Georg shrugged. "Yes, I suppose it is."

He watched as she continued to listen to him as he described the myth surrounding Persephone and Hades. He had to admit, it was always an experience to see her reactions to things. She was always so open about how she felt and her emotions were constantly flicking across her face, it was captivating.

"So, because she ate some food from the underworld, she had to go back there for part of the year?" Fraulein Maria asked.

"Yes," Georg said, "Her mother neglected the earth while she was searching for her daughter, and so the time that Persephone is in the underworld the earth is barren. Some people believe it corresponds with the colder months."

"It's all very interesting," she replied as she looked through a few more pages.

Humming his agreement, Georg continued to watch her as she had her head stuck in the book while they sat in comfortable silence. He could see the smattering of freckles that covered her cheeks and nose; he hadn't noticed them before. He guessed it was because she was spending so much more time outside than she would normally. Not much sunshine in a strict nunnery, he told himself. Maybe Demeter should have found a convent to hide her daughter in, he thought stupidly. And then he wondered if Hades had been captured by blue eyes and golden hair, something so different from the darkness he was used to.

As this thought entered his head, she glanced up from her book and straight into his eyes and Georg was too slow to look away. They both just stared at each other for a moment until the silence was broken when the sound of the clock above the empty fireplace chimed the hour. Georg watched her as she blinked and broke the eye contact. It was only brief but he was certain that in that small moment, he felt he totally understood what Hades had done. Those eyes were going to kill him.

"I think it's best you retire, Fraulein, it's quite late," he said finally, trying to make his voice sound more formal.

Slightly bewildered, Maria just nodded and shut the book carefully before she placed it on a table as she stood up. She was suddenly feeling awkward and embarrassed for some unknown reason and she looked at the Captain's face again to see it had hardened once more.

"Good night, Captain," Maria said politely, giving him a smile as she smoothed her skirt.

Georg watched her leave and heaved a sigh once he was sure she was out of earshot. Slumping into the plush armchair he pinched the bridge of his nose. What the hell was he doing? He was playing with fire, he knew that much. But he just couldn't seem to help himself. With her genuine caring nature and those damn eyes he was finding it harder and harder each night to say goodnight to her. He wished that she would just stay with him.

With a groan he stood up and started to collect the books she had left on the ground. Placing them all on the table for a housemaid to clear up later, he went to leave but nearly tripped on Fraulein Maria's shoes. Bending down, he picked one up and stared at it. For one wild moment, he was tempted to go after her and give them back to her. And his mind, which was always looking for an excuse these days to think about the little governess, conjured up the wonderful image of him running up the stairs and stopping her at her door.

He could so easily picture himself kneeling down in front of her and slipping the shoes on her feet like she was that princess from one of Brigitta's fairy tale books. This thought then turned into another and before he knew he was imagining pressing her up against her bedroom door and smothering her in kisses. Pushing aside these thoughts he headed for his study, shutting the door behind him as he entered. He placed her shoes on the leather couch and then sat at his desk, steepling his fingers together on the cold wood.

Glancing at the clock, he still couldn't believe how late it was as he tried to focus on an unfinished document. They had been talking for hours but it felt like it had barely been any time at all. Pulling at his tie, he loosened the knot and shrugged out of his jacket, enjoying the sensation of being free from his restricting clothing. It made him recall what she had said about him being born wearing a suit and tie and he allowed himself a small smile in the dim light of the study. He wondered how she would react to seeing him without his usual formal dress. But he had to stop himself there because those thoughts were going to take him somewhere he wasn't sure he could stand to go for what seemed the hundredth time this evening. There were so many reasons why it was a bad idea to even think on; she was the governess to his children, she was probably half his age and then there was the whole nun thing. Which was always so easy to forget about.

And then, there was Elsa. The woman who he was intending to marry before the summer ended. He'd never really felt guilty about his relationship with Elsa because it had been more of a business arrangement than anything else. Of course, he enjoyed her company immensely, but it never made him feel like he was insulting the memory of Agathe. But now, anytime he thought of Fraulein Maria, he felt a surge of guilt that it was not his wife he was thinking about. It wasn't her smile he craved to see in the day, or her voice that haunted him at night. No, it was the governess.

Georg heaved another huge sigh and stood up, there was no use brooding over it all. He knew that got him nowhere and he was clearly not going to get any work done tonight with his mind the way it was. Leaving his study, and hopefully confusing thoughts behind, he headed for his room where he hoped and prayed that his sleep would be dream free.

* * *

A/N I also really like mythology, particularly Greek. There are so many different version of the stories too so you can pick and choose which ones you like haha

Disclaimer: I do not own TSOM except for on DVD and an old vinyl record.


End file.
